Across the southeast

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - A gunman suspected of robbing two banks Monday wounded two police officers before he was shot to death by police, authorities said.

The man was killed outside the second bank, a Bank of America branch. He was spotted by police as he walked away from the bank carrying an assault rifle.

"He just walked out on the street and starting shooting into the police car," said Katrina Lopiccollo, a clerk at a gas station across the street. "He walked right toward it and kept shooting."

Floods close schools for remainder of term

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Some southern West Virginia schools won't be able to reopen this year because of damage from last week's deadly floods, officials said Monday.

Floods and mudslides caused by torrential rain were blamed for at least six deaths in West Virginia and two in Virginia. Six people were still missing Monday in West Virginia, and one man was missing in Kentucky.

Damage continued to mount Monday as residents braced for more rain. The National Weather Service said flooding was possible today through Thursday as a cold front passes through the area.

Officer killed as she struggles with man

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A police officer was fatally shot with her own weapon Monday while struggling with a man who had wandered away from the hospital where he was taken for a mental evaluation.

Julie Jacks, 26, the department's rookie of the year for 2001, was shot several times in a neighborhood near Parkridge Hospital, Police Chief Jimmie Dotson said. The suspect was taken into custody.

The chief said a man from Chattanooga State Technical Community College, possibly a student, had been taken to Parkridge for evaluation of "some type of mental illness." The patient then left the hospital and wandered into a nearby neighborhood.

Family, friends grieve after jailhouse fire

BAKERSVILLE, N.C. - Within sight of the charred courthouse jail where he and seven other inmates died, Jason Boston's friends and family gathered Monday to remember a hard-working father taken away too soon.

Mr. Boston, 27, was serving a 72-hour sentence for driving while intoxicated when fire broke out Friday night at the Mitchell County jail, likely in a wooden storage room adjacent to the jailhouse. Jailers couldn't open all the cells fast enough, and the eight victims were left locked inside.